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In both Crime and Punishment and Othello there is a theme of necessary balance. Crime and Punishment's theme that man must be balanced in order to function properly is very similar to Othello's theme that, tragically, jealousy is destructive, ....

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... stylistic device both authors used to demonstrate this unbalance is foreshadowing. On page 84 in Crime and Punishment, Raskolnikov says, "If they question me, perhaps I will simply tell. Fall to my knees and tell." This foreshadows Raskolnikov's confession to the police and his subsequent sentencing to Siberia. Raskolnikov is obviously unbalanced if he can detachedly hypothesize about his confession. Similarly, Desdemona's willow song foreshadows her own death. In this way we realize Othello must be extremely unbalanced if his wife can foresee her own death when they are still newly wed. Both foreshadowed events would usually be consid ...